


Blue Eyes, Red Heart

by LunaBeth



Series: Tales of Fire & Water [3]
Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Blue Spirit - Freeform, M/M, same timeline, small tweaks, sokka is a lover but, zukka - Freeform, zuko is so moody
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-24
Updated: 2020-07-24
Packaged: 2021-03-04 21:47:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,266
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25483408
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LunaBeth/pseuds/LunaBeth
Summary: A pirate fight turned sandstorm. The Blue Spirit. Zuko's bedroom musings.
Relationships: Sokka/Zuko (Avatar)
Series: Tales of Fire & Water [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1844374
Comments: 2
Kudos: 129





	Blue Eyes, Red Heart

**Author's Note:**

> parts are small bc I'm going off every time Zuko and Sokka see each other. also i enjoy slow build lol
> 
> I do not own any characters from Avatar the Last Airbender.  
> Following the plot with some twists of my own.  
> (Zukka forever)

See, when Katara wants something and feels that she deserves it, she goes for it. 

That’s how Sokka and Aang wound up in fishnet traps, staring at each other swinging from the hands of two very large pirates. And this is before Sokka even gets to think about breakfast. All for a scroll.

Dragged onto the shore with the rest of the weird looking pirates, Sokka groans as he takes in the sight of his sister tied to a tree next to Zuko. 

_Why_ did he have to be here? Oh right, his obsession with Aang. 

Sokka’s mind flashed to the last time he saw the Fire Prince. _Oh, yeah. When I saved his life at Roku’s temple._

Obviously a stupid thing to do, now seeing Katara’s eyes wide with terror. Zuko was a horrible person. He continued to prove this with every attack. So Sokka needed to start looking at him like the monster he was. 

“Give us the boy.” Zuko demanded. They met eyes for a second, Zuko’s face twisting into a deeper scowl, special for Sokka.

“You give us the scroll.” The Pirate Captain said calmly, rigid in his place.

Sokka’s eyes narrowed.

“You’re really gonna hand over the Avatar for a stupid piece of parchment?” Sokka blurted, setting the bait.

Zuko’s one eyebrow shot up. “Don’t listen to him. He’s trying to turn us against each other!”

“Your friend is the Avatar?” The Captain turned, tone casual.

“Sure is. And I bet he’ll fetch a lot more on the black market than that fancy scroll.” Sokka grinned, feeling smart. But the way Aang was looking at him…

“Shut your mouth you Water Tribe peasant!” Zuko shouted much louder this time. 

“Hey!” Katara yelled, eyes wild. She struggled against the ropes, knowing it was useless but kept fighting it otherwise, “He saved your life, you undeserving coward!”

Instead of looking her way, or even acknowledging her, Zuko eyes locked with Sokka’s - wide and challenging. “Nobody _asked_ him to do that.” He hissed. 

“Keep the scroll.” The Captain said, breaking the sudden unfamiliar tension, “We can get one hundred with the reward of the kid.” He laughed, signaling his men that it was time to go. 

“You’ll regret breaking a deal with me.” Zuko warned, drawing fire in unison with his soldiers.

The pirates jumped and scattered, some charging toward the soldiers with a variety of flat out weird weaponry. Being on the shore, sand was flying everywhere, specifically right into Sokka’s eye sockets. It was a struggle enough that a fight had to start out when he was on his knees with his hands tied together.

Then, he made the almost fatal mistake of opening his mouth for a second. 

“Aang,” Sokka called, spitting out what he could. He crawled forward, not able to see through the sand tornado that was rising. A leg here, a grunt there, an audible punch and the heat of fire scorching its way in different angles. 

Suddenly, he was being dragged away from behind. “There you are.”

Oh, no. 

“You did this!” Zuko yelled into his face. Which was sort of blurry what with his body all but consuming every grain of sand that came his way.

“I’d do it again.” Sokka spat, hearing Zuko calling him a peasant in his head.

“I should have ended you at Kyoshi Island like I was going to.” Zuko raged, yielding a large ball of fire that hovered in his hand.

That was enough to send Sokka over the edge. His brain, using the rage to run a million miles a second, spotted a worn out sword lodged into the ground. Sokka leaped forward, cutting the rope that held his hands together in a swift moment.

Turning around, he was ready. Sokka lunged forward before Zuko got the chance to shoot anything his way, tackling him onto the roots of some trees, the barrier where sand met forest.

Finally, he was able to do what he’s been dreaming about since Roku’s Temple.

Right on top of the Fire Prince, Sokka swung with all his might, getting three punches in before being blasted with a fireball that sent them both rolling over, considering how close they were. 

“You bastard.” Sokka groaned, “You selfish, arrogant prick. I understand why they banished you.”

Something struck a nerve.

“You understand _nothing!_ ” Zuko roared. 

“Sokka!” Both battered boys look up to see Aang, “Let’s go.”

A second later, Zuko makes an attempt to grab Aang, but not before the Captain of the Pirates got a hold of Zuko by his uniform, proceeding to whack him down with what looked like a carved slab of wood.

“Run!” Aang yelled, pulling ahead of him.

This time, Sokka was the one that didn’t look back.

~

Sokka decided he was used to the game now. Dealing with Jet and guiding two herds of extremely hostile people through scary mountains had to earn some kind of points. Bonus for dealing with giant mountain crawling animals that came in packs. 

It was only a matter of time before this happened. 

After that terrible storm a few days ago, Sokka fell ill with Katara following his lead. So, Aang had no choice but to force them on bed rest. At least until he could go out and bring back some sort of medicine. 

But then, he was captured.

And also rescued. Doing a little rescuing himself at the end there as well.

~

Zuko’s eyelids fluttered, acknowledging the warmth of the sunlight trailing his skin. It was morning. Opening them fully, he scanned around, taking in the tall hazy trees stretching up beyond him. 

“You know what the worst part about being born over a hundred years ago is? I miss all the friends I used to hang out with. Before the war started…”

Zuko let him talk, hearing him but also trailing into his own thoughts. He ran the night back in his head, remembering being shot in the head at the end. Now...the Avatar was talking about friendship? Zuko didn’t have any, nor did he desire such.

A fleeting thought pulsed through his mind. Water Tribe boy. His curious, deep blue eyes.

Zuko definitely hated him.

“...and he was from the Fire Nation, just like you. If we knew each other back then, do you think we could have been friends, too?”

Zuko couldn't think. He shot a blaze of fire in the Avatar’s direction, causing him to leap into the branches of those tall trees and jump away. 

~

Zuko passed his Uncle sitting next to the railing of the ship. 

“Where have you been, Prince Zuko? You missed music night. Lieutenant Jin sang a stunning love song.”

“I’m going to bed.” Zuko said resolutely. “No disturbances.” he said, walking away with a small wave of a hand. 

*

Zuko stared at the ceiling of his chamber, noticing for the first time all the red. Then, remembering the blue spirit mask he claimed last night. 

He’ll admit, the plan was crazy to him at first, but he decided there was no other way.

Remembering what Aang said about friendships bugged Zuko. His brain worked him sometimes.

Regardless, he let the Avatar leave. Had he gone soft?

Zuko’s mood hardened at the thought. He was as cunning and powerful as ever. The moment simply passed him. Soon, he’d have him in his hands once again. 

Yawning, Zuko turned to one side, looking straight at the giant Fire Nation tarp hanging on the wall.

He examined it for a few seconds before turning his back to it and closing his eyes, seeing blue.

**Author's Note:**

> comment anything you feel <3 much love to all the kudos


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